THE INDEPENDENT: Drama king: Richard E Grant on being a hero, a villain and a Twitter snob
by John Walsh
December 1, 2012
It’s quarter of a century since Richard E Grant imprinted himself on the national psyche in Withnail and I, but the years of fame have been rather arduous. He talks to John Walsh about his sideline job of interviewing Donald Trump, his jealous sibling and (a very small amount about) becoming Doctor Who’s latest nemesis...
... We meet in a disused theatre in London's Westbourne Grove. At 55, he's mostly unchanged from the early days, still handsome, restless and chronically impatient. His natural flamboyance is held in by a buttoned-up coat and a scarf tied round his neck. He has a way of holding himself, of talking, that's very alert. You feel he might pounce on any foolish question or stray remark.
We don't have a very promising start. About Doctor Who, I say. Exactly how villainous is your character?
"I was told I wasn't allowed to talk about it. Sorry."
Just some basic details, I say. You filmed in Cardiff?
"I went to Cardiff," he says grudgingly, "and got into the costume…"
For some reason, I say, I'm assuming it's a fat suit.
"An enormous fat suit," says Grant obligingly, "with fangs and a tail."
How did he find the actress Jenna-Louise Coleman, who plays the Doctor's new assistant?
"I met her in a doorway, and I had only one line, so there wasn't much time to make a searching analysis of her talents."
In fact, Grant plays Doctor Simeon, a cold-eyed, evil Victorian mastermind with a silk topper and fur lapels, who commands an army of evil snowmen. He's brilliant, as always, at the raspy one-liner: saying to an importunate beggar who's about to meet his maker, "I only said I'd feed you – I didn't say to whom"...
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